


Love in a Time of Polyjuice

by sc010f



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-22
Updated: 2012-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-04 03:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/389457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sc010f/pseuds/sc010f
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snape is stuck, Luna has a visitor, and in the end, all you need is love. Written for Mundungus42 for the 2010 Snuna Exchange</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love in a Time of Polyjuice

Luna knows the dead never truly leave us. Her mother's been whispering in her ear for years now. 

But Luna never expected Severus Snape to alight on her bedpost one stormy night autumn and start glaring at her.

"Professor!" she remarked, "You're up early."

_"Is this the famous Professor Snape?" asked her mother._

_"Yes, mum. He's looks awfully uncomfortable, though."_

_"He looks undernourished. You should feed him, Luna._ "

"Are you hungry, Professor?"

Professor Snape simply glared. 

Thunder crashed around the tiny cottage. 

_"He doesn't seem to be hungry, mum."_

_"I know I'd like a nice cup of tea if I were him."_

_"Anything you say, mother."_

"What about a nice cup of tea, Professor?" Luna pushed the bedclothes aside and slid out of her bed.

"Miss Lovegood, would you be so kind as to stop driveling?" The specter turned his back. "And put some clothing on."

_"Oh, dear, I hadn't thought of that."_

_"What's that, mum?"_

_"You're disturbing him. You're nude, dear."_

Luna reached for her a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"Don't you know, Professor, that dressing gowns attract nargles?"

"Miss Lovegood, I do not care. Clothe yourself. It's… distracting."

Luna giggled.

_"He's a prude, isn't he mum?"_

_Outdated, customs, dear."_

Luna sighed and pulled on her shorts. She walked to the window and pulled back the drape to watch the raging storm. 

"Miss Lovegood, when you're done woolgathering, perhaps you could help me?"

_"I think Professor Snape wants your attention, dear."_

"What can I do for you, Professor?" Luna asked.

Snape floated awkwardly from the bedpost to hover beside her. 

_"He'd have better luck if he stopped fighting."_

"Why don't you relax, Professor? You'll float better."

"Miss Lovegood, will you please talk sense? I don't know why I bothered. It was ridiculous of me to even think that you would be able to help me!"

With every word, Snape rose higher and higher until he reached the ceiling.

"Oh, fuck!"

_"Did he curse like that in front of the students? I certainly hope Albus had a word with him about his language."_

"Miss Lovegood, I could use your help, please!"

_"If you concentrate, you'll be able to touch him. That might bring him down. Tell him to relax, first, though."_

Luna took a deep breath and focused on his hand.

"Relax, sir, and I'll pull you down."

"Relax? You expect me to _relax_?"

"Yes, sir."

Snape grumbled and closed his eyes. 

"Deep breath, sir."

"I don't breathe, Miss Lovegood, I'm _dead_."

Luna reached out and touched his hand. 

It was like eating candy floss, insubstantially substantial. 

Carefully, carefully, Luna pulled Snape to her level and faced him.

"That's better, sir," she said. 

"Thank you, Miss Lovegood. Now, suppose you tell me why in the name of Merlin's hairy armpit, I'm here."

"Sir, I have no idea."

* * *

Snape drifted around the bedroom for three days before he spoke to her again. Miss Lovegood spoke to him every time she entered or left the room, but Snape refused to reply. He tried to leave: tried to float through the window, tried to drift out the door, but every attempt was blocked. 

It was bad enough, waking up suddenly on the post of Miss Lovegood's bed, worse to be stuck there, but what made the situation completely untenable was the fact that she was determined to sleep nude, despite his spectral presence.

"I think you're being very rude, Professor," she finally said.

"Rude? Consider, Miss Lovegood that I do not want to be here. That I did not choose to be imprisoned in your bedroom for all eternity," he snapped, "my ill temper is surely excusable."

Miss Lovegood cocked her head to one side and looked out the window.

"Miss Lovegood, I am speaking to you!"

Miss Lovegood smiled at him.

"Professor, are you sure you wouldn't like some tea?"

Snape goggled at her. As far as he knew, spirits, and he concluded that he must be a spirit, didn't drink tea.  
"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. 

"Try, sir. _Accio_ tea things!"

A tray floated gently into the room, and Miss Lovegood sat cross-legged on her bed. 

Snape drifted down to flat beside her.

"Now, sir," she said, pouring a cup. "Why did you decide to visit me?"

Snape stared at her.

"Miss Lovegood," he said, "if I knew I wouldn't be in such a …"

"Snit, sir?"

Snape wanted to bury his head in his hands.

"Snit, if you like."

Miss Loveogood frowned.

"Why don't you call me Luna?" she suggested. "And I'll read your tea leaves."

"You're joking."

"About being called Luna? No, Severus. It's my name. Try it."

Snape snorted. 

"You're joking about reading tea leaves. Right? You don't really believe that claptrap that Sybil tried to drum into you? I thought you were a Ravenclaw, Miss Lovegood."

"I was in Ravenclaw, Severus, but that doesn't mean that I don't believe that one can divine the future or tell the past."

"Harpyshit."

Miss Lovegood cocked her head to one side again and smiled slightly. Snape remembered the gesture from her school days.

"I'm ready if you are. Are you sure, Severus, that you don't know why you're here?"

Snape grunted. It occurred to him that he should object to her referring to him as "Severus". 

"No, _Luna_ , I don't know why I'm here. The last thing I remember was Potter staring at me in his typical gormless fashion and …

_Pain, there had been so much pain. He could feel the grit, the hardness, disappointment, failure._

"You didn't fail, Severus," Luna said. "Harry took those memories, he used them well."

Snape glared. 

"Obviously," he snorted, "or else you wouldn't be here, would you? The Potter brat won, and the Wizarding world is safe for all and sundry."

"Perhaps," Luna was examining the dregs of her teacup.

"What do you mean, 'perhaps?'" Snape demanded. "Potter won, didn't he?"

* * *

_"He has a difficult time with failure, doesn't he?"_

_"It was important to him that Harry win. Having to kill Professor Dumbledore like that must have been hard for him."_

_"Killing the Headmaster was quite rude."_

_"I agree. But he saved Draco's soul."_

_"And his soul?"_

_"Well, mum, that's the problem. Although I trusted him, even when it looked most desperate."_

_"That's my girl."_

Luna peeped round the door to her bedroom. Snape floated by her window, staring at the browning hills.

_"He looks lonely."_

_"I know. I think he's always been lonely."_

_"He needs somebody."_

_"I'd like to think he needs me. Would you like that, mum?"_

_"You can't save his soul, my love."_

_"But I can try."_

"Is that why you're here, Severus?" she asked.

Snape spun.

"What are you babbling about?" he demanded.

"It's your soul. The Death Eaters burned your body but your soul abides. You killed Dumbledore but your motives were good. And he was dying. You _helped_ him."

"A fat lot of good that did me," Snape sneered. "I failed. Potter failed. And now the Ministry is in chaos, my former colleagues are either dead or fugitives. And the Dark Lord is…"

"Voldemort."

"I know his _name_."

"He's weak, Severus. And I think he's very unhappy, too."

"You'll forgive me if the happiness of the Dark Lord is the least of my concerns."

"Everybody should have a chance at happiness. Harry never really did, you know, except when he was playing Quidditch."

"More's the pity." 

"I think he'd be happy to hear you say that, Severus."

"Miss – Luna, I was being sarcastic."

"Oh."

Snape sighed and wound up somewhere near the ceiling.

"Dare I ask what happened to Potter?"

"He died. Ginny's married to Neville Longbottom now."

" _What_?"

"And Hermione married Ron. They did it rather quickly, too. I think it was because of the decree about Muggle-borns."

"I thought Miss Granger was more clever than that."

"Ron tries to make her happy. And the Ministry says that all Muggle-borns need to be married to pure-bloods or registered."

"And you?"

"I had toad in the hole for tea."

"That's not what I meant."

"Toad in the hole makes me happy."

"Luna…"

_"I think he wants to know why you're not married."_

_"I can't marry him. I want to, of course, but I can't."_

_"Why not?"_

_"He's a ghost, mum."_

_"You trust him, though. There's more than meets the eye, my dear, didn't I teach you that? There's always more."_

_"I have an idea."_

_"That's my girl."_

"I think I know why you're here."

"Oh, do enlighten me."

"I think you're here because things aren't how they're supposed to be."

"Brilliant observation."

"I think you're back because Voldemort's unhappy."

"Don't tell me he _missed_ me."

"You didn't fail, Severus. I think you just haven't finished yet."

"So, I'm stuck here for eternity?"

"No."

"Luna, if you haven't noticed, I'm dead. I can't leave this room. How do you propose I finish? What am I supposed to finish?"

"I think you're supposed to finish what Harry couldn't."

_"If he comes with you, he'll be able to leave the room."_

_"But, mum, I don't know where to go yet."_

_"Don’t fret, dear. A good night's sleep will take care of that. He'd sleep better if he could be with you on the bed."_

Luna giggled.

_"Can you imagine his face if I suggested it?"_

"Do I want to know why you're giggling," Snape asked resignedly from the ceiling over her headboard.

"Erm, probably not, Severus," Luna replied, blushing.

* * *

After dropping her conversational bomb, Luna wandered from the room, head tilted to one side, as if she were listening to music only she could hear.

Snape reflected that he could do with a little music. He wondered if Luna ever danced to the music in her head. 

Luna, always had an air of freedom about her. He wondered what that would have been like – to be free to do as one pleased: not worried about being hexed for unpopular opinions, or because his clothes were strange, or because he was… him.

He heard the water running in her bath and tried not to think about what she was doing – dropping her clothing in an untidy heap on the floor, slipping into the bathtub with a contented sigh. 

If he had been able to, he would have blushed furiously. 

_Dead and a virgin. And trapped in the bedroom of a nubile witch._

_An insane nubile witch._ He amended.

He had failed. Potter was dead, the Dark Lord, however weak, had won. He'd killed for naught, protected those bloody children for nothing. Granger was lucky to be alive. 

He was sure it was Luna's blood status that kept her alive. Perhaps also the fact that she was certifiably insane. 

_"You just haven't finished yet."_

Snape made sure he was floating with his back to her when she returned from her bath, clad only in a towel.

"I think a good sleep will tell me what we need to do," Luna remarked as she slipped into bed.

Snape permitted himself a peek.

"Pleasant dreams, Luna."

* * *

_"He needs to be the instrument of Voldemort's destruction."_

_"How, mum?"_

_"He's a potions master, is he not? He was your Potions professor, surely he can concoct something."_

_"Before he died, Harry thought that the most powerful thing on this earth was love."_

_"He's right, but even Harry wasn't the one."_

_"Who is the one, mum?"_

The silence in Luna's brain was profound. She knew. 

"It's you, Severus," she said in the dark to the floating specter on the ceiling. 

"Me?" Snape turned.

"Harry believed that love could defeat Voldemort."

"I always knew the boy was a fool."

"He was right. But Harry wasn't the one. _Lumos_."

"Years of sycophancy at Hogwarts would prove you wrong, Luna." Snape blinked in the sudden light. 

"Harry's ability was the product of his mum's love."

"So?"

"But he'd never actually made a sacrifice. Not like you."

" _I'm_ the one." Snape said it flatly, turning to face her. "You are mad." 

"You, Severus." Luna sat up in the bed. 

"Luna, cover up. Please."

"What? Why?"

"It's… distracting."

Luna laughed.

"Aren't you more interested in how we can defeat Voldemort?"

Snape blinked at her.

"You're joking," he said at last.

"You made the ultimate sacrifice, Severus."

"Luna, I _killed_ Albus. My soul…"

"Your soul is still here because you can redeem yourself. Become free."

"How do you suppose I do that?"

"You're a Potions master. Brew something." Luna shrugged. She extinguished her wand and pulled the covers over her shoulder.

Her dreams were of Severus.

* * *

The girl was insane. Absolutely barking mad.

"I'm going to set up the potions bench in here," she remarked. "And we can brew. You can show me what I'm doing wrong."

"Brew what?"

"Love."

"You're joking. You can't brew love."

"No, but what Voldemort needs is love."

"WHAT?"

"All you need, Severus, is love."

"There's no way to brew love."

"That's the problem. And I don't know what to do."

"Amortentia."

"Severus?"

"Go to the Department of Mysteries. I know you know where it is. In one of the rooms is a fountain of Amortentia. You're not skilled enough to brew it."

Luna frowned.

"You're right! We'll get the Amortentia and then we'll… oh, we'll do something with it. But we still need to brew."

"And what you'll do, you silly girl, is have the Dark Lord smell it. Brew what? "

"Polyjuice, silly. Will you watch for nargles, please? They tend to interfere with the brewing. Is Voldemort allergic, or something?"

* * *

That afternoon, Snape discovered that ghosts could, in fact, get headaches.

It wasn't that Luna was a poor brewer, so much as she tended to drift off in the middle of her process until his panicked shout returned her to reality.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to have a friend over for tea."

"Oh?"

"A special friend, he'll be helping us."

"Who?"

"Draco Malfoy. We're lovers sometimes."

Snape felt a hot surge of jealousy. He immediately tried to quell it. He was dead, for the love of Merlin. The girl was free to consort with anyone she chose.

"But I think I'm going to have to end it. He's not very nice to Hermione, for one thing, and he also wants to marry me."

Snape had, by this point, given up on trying to ferret out the connections between her statements.

He couldn't leave her bedroom, but Luna assured him that Draco wouldn't enter it. 

"The sofa in my sitting room is leather," she said, "and Draco likes that better. That and the Gittersnap beneath my bed doesn't like him."

Snape blushed furiously. The Gittersnap stuck its head out and nodded its agreement.

"This will be the last time," Luna continued. "I don't really love him that much any more."

"Indeed?" Snape asked, not entirely trusting his ghostly voice not to crack. 

"Oh Severus," Luna said, "I wish…"

"So you're going to use his hair and…?" he interrupted.

"He's Hermione's boss, she'll take us in."

"Where?"

"The Department of Mysteries, silly."

"And then?"

"And then we gather what we need. And bring love to Voldemort."

"The fountain of Amortentia. Luna, you are insane." Admiration crept into his voice.

Luna smiled serenely and seemed to listen.

"But very clever," he amended.

"I'm glad you think so," she replied.

* * *

_"He loves you, dear."_

_"I know, mum."_

_"It will be difficult, but not insurmountable."_

_"Mum, he's dead!"_

_"Don't be so linear, Luna. I brought you up better than that."_

"How can I love a ghost? I already trust him."

"Beg pardon?" Snape asked as Luna bent over her brewing. 

"We're ready," Luna straightened up, holding the bubbling vial. "We'll go to the Ministry of Magic, I'll drink this, and we'll see Hermione."

"We? Luna, I can't leave this room."

"Of course you can, silly, you just had to really want to."

"Luna, I've wanted to ever since I've been here!"

Luna blinked rapidly, trying not to cry.

Snape floated down to her.

"Oh, Luna," he said, "I didn't mean…" 

"Really?"

"Logic, Miss Lovegood. I couldn't have truly wanted to, not when it meant I could watch you. Spend time with you. You're an odd girl, Luna. But I can't stop thinking that if things were different…"

His hand was icy, and she could tell it took all of the control he had to keep from floating through her as he touched her cheek. 

She smiled. 

"I have a magic bag," she said. "You can ride in it."

* * *

It was simplicity itself. Granger glared at the polyjuiced Luna with an intensity that made Snape, peeping ridiculously from Luna's magic briefcase, cringe, but led them to the Department of Mysteries and left them alone.

"Here we are," Luna said as Snape streamed from the bag, surprised that he'd actually felt _cramped_.

"Severus?" Luna asked, bending to fill the vial. 

"Yes?"

"Do you think that you may not be entirely dead?"

"What?"

"Do you think that perhaps you're just not quite corporeal?"

"That is typically the definition of a ghost."

"I just had a thought, that's all."

"Luna…"

"It's okay, Severus, we can talk about it later."

He streamed back into her bag, as Luna took another sip of Polyjuice, but not before he caught a whiff of the Amortentia:

Earth.

Patchouli.

Spring.

_Luna_.

* * *

"Junior Minister Malfoy to see you, your Lordship."

The months had not been kind to Malfoy senior, Snape noticed from his bag.

"Thank you, Minister… er, father."

Snape hoped that Lucius hadn't noticed the slip. 

"My Lord." Luna set Snape's bag down.

"Draco, what have you for me?"

"A gift, my Lord. It is no secret you are ailing. Horace Slughorn has sent this as a restorative."

Snape marveled at Luna's ability to lie, to stay _focused_.

"Thank you, Draco. Lucius, you may leave."

"But my Lord!" Snape tensed. Lucius _knew_.

"Leave us, Lucius." The Dark Lord's voice had a weary edge to it.

"I hope you know what you're doing, boy," hissed Lucius at Luna. 

"My Lord." Luna ignored Lucius' threat and held fort the vial. 

"It looks like Amortentia," commented Voldemort.

If he could have held his breath, Snape would have. He contented himself with trying to stay in his bag.

"It has similar characteristics, it increases the stamina," Luna lied.

"Very well." Voldemort extended a claw-like hand and took the vial. 

He sniffed at it. 

"Hmm, rotting vegetation, death… and power. Draco! This is Amor… You wretched… _Cruci…_ ACHOOO!"

The result was catastrophic. Luna dived out of the way in the nick of time as bits of the Dark Lord went flying. 

The bag compressed around him, or Snape grew solid – he wasn't sure which but he knew that he had to get _out_. He scrambled free just in time to be smacked with a large piece of disintegrating Dark Lord.

He flew, face furst, into a wall. It hurt. It felt good to hurt again.

Luna was laughing, her skin bubbling as she changed from Draco to Luna. 

"We did it, Severus!"

He was hurting. He was solid. 

And Voldemort was dead.

"Severus! We did it!"

Luna was in his arms, peppering his face with enthusiastic kisses.

"Luna, my Luna," he murmured. Pain surged through his limbs. He knew it wouldn't be long.

"You fulfilled your purpose – we defeated Voldemort! You're alive!"

For a moment, Snape believed her and kissed her, hard. But he knew it could not last. There were running footsteps in the corridor. 

"My Luna."

He could feel himself fading. _This_ , this was death. Release. 

"Severus, where are you going?"

"Luna, I cannot stay," he whispered. He heard the shouts of Malfoy and Voldemort's guards. 

"Severus, no!"

"I cannot wait for you, my love."

"But…"

She was receding. He reached for her hand. 

"Live, my Luna," he said. "And when the time comes, I _will_ see you again." He had to believe it. "Leave, before Lucius finds you."

The darkness that had been an enemy was now a friend.

Luna's smile and the faint pop of her Apparation were his last mementos of the living, breathing girl that he had inexplicably fallen in love with.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, however, he was floating above Luna's bed as she slept, pale from grief, eyelashes spiky from where she had wept.

"Oh bloody _hell_!" he exclaimed. 

Luna awoke and smiled.

"I guess you're not that easy to get rid of!" she exclaimed happily. "You'll just have to stay."

And stay he did.

* * *

One afternoon, many years later when Luna lay down to take her nap and did not awaken.

"Your grandchildren will be heartbroken," Snape observed as the pale ghost floated next to him.

"They are young," Luna remarked. "Was I ever that young?"

Snape chuckled and held out his hand. 

"Come, my love," he said, "and let me show you."

As they left the house, passing through the mists of earthly time and space, Snape noticed a pale woman standing before them, arms open.

"Severus," Luna said, "I'd like you to meet my mum."

* * *

 **AN:** Not mine. No money. Special thanks to Bluestocking and TalesofSnape for their help!


End file.
